No.1 UCLA Bruins too much for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in their 79-53 Victory

UCLA Bruins #51 Lauren Betts (C) is about to hand the ball to her teammate #1 Kiki Rice (G).

Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1

WESTWOOD, CA - The No. 1 team in the country, the UCLA Bruins, with Elina Aarnisalo scoring 15 points, Kiki Rice with 14 points, and Londynn Jones with 13 points, helped beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Pauley Pavilion 79-53.

Amaya Battle led the Golden Gophers in scoring with 21 points, and Grace Grocholski with 12 points.

Lauren Betts scored 6 points and was double and triple team by Minnesota's swarming defense many times, and her being a great passer, found a lot of open teammates doing the course of the game.

"Lauren's got to be skilled enough and knowledgeable enough," head coach Cori Close said. "But most importantly, she's got to be selfless enough to say I'm just gonna be a facilitator for my team. And how versatile is she that she can be that kind of passer?"

Minnesota Golden Gopher #3 Amaya Battle (G) is going up for a left-handed layup.

Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1

Aarnisalo got UCLA off to a good start with a driving layup to give them a 5-3 lead. Minnesota tied the game 7-7 with a layup by Amaya Battle.

The Golden Gophers took a 12-11 lead with a three-point shot by Grace Grocholski. Lauren Betts posted in the paint and turned around for a layup to give UCLA a 15-14 lead.

Rice, with a deep three-point shot at the top of the key, gave UCLA a 21-18 lead. Jones would drive down the right side of the baseline and put a floater to give UCLA a 33-28 lead at halftime.

You have to credit Minnesota's defense for doing a great job holding Betts to just two field goal attempts and two points in the first half.

Jones led the Bruins in scoring in the first half with 8 points, Aarnisalo with 6 points, and Kiki Rice and Angela Dugalic both with 5 points.

UCLA Bruins #7 Elina Aarnisalo (G) is over looking the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ defense to pass the ball

to a open teammate. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

The Golden Gophers' leading scorer in the first half was Battle, with 17 points, and Grace Grocholski 5 points. UCLA made 12 of 31 shots for 38.7%, three-point range 6 of 19 for 31.7%, and six turnovers.

Minnesota made 12 of 29 shots for 41.4%, three-point range 3 for 10 for 30.0%, and eight turnovers.

UCLA jumped out to a ten-point lead to start the third quarter, 40-30, after a three-pointer by Gabriela Jaquez, forcing Minnesota to call a timeout.

The Golden Gophers were hanging tough, 45-36, with a jump shot in the paint by Mallory Heyer. Rice would drive to the basket for a layup to give the Bruins a 51-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The Bruins led 55-42 in the fourth quarter with a layup by Aarnisalo. Rice scored her 12th point after knocking down a three-pointer at the top of the key to give the Bruins a 60-44 lead.

Jones would steal the basketball, dribble upcourt, and pull up for a jump shot, and made the score 66-44 to electrify the fans. UCLA cruised the rest of the way to beat Minnesota 79-53 to improve their record to (21-0, 9-0, Big10).